#but i also let some time go by and wasn't even sure if people would still be interested in my podfic of this story

[catastrophic-crow]

manipulate all forms of silica? a casual Tucker Foley Shatterbird AU is not what i was expecting to read, but alright. Slaughterhouse 9 inspired Tucker!

Warning for a bit of the ol' implied ultraviolence and also murder. so much of those things are implied. here we go, i guess:

(does this count as dead dove? i think this counts as dead dove)

Tucker floated in the air twenty miles outside of Amity. Above him, stretched dark skies. Though it was the morning, the sun did not shine; clouds hung low and heavy—but it wasn't raining yet. Below him, lay a sprawling complex belonging to the Guys in White, built up over months as they reacted to the rush of occultists to the area following Amity's disappearance, and subsequent reappearance.

They hadn't gotten Danny yet—

"Sorry about this," his friend slurred against his shoulder as Tucker dipped the needle into his flesh, ecto-treated surgical thread pulling taut as Tucker hummed inquisitively.

Tucker held the curved needle in a hand, pulled back a little to glance at Danny's face. His eyes were pressed shut. "What do you mean?" Tucker wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

"F'r... makin' you do this."

"This—"

His speech resonated with the windowpane, below the human range of hearing, and Tucker cut himself off. He paused for a moment, and only when he was certain he had control of his voice, did he speak. "This isn't your fault," he said softly.

He kept his voice calm, soothing. Tried to distract Danny from the pain with meaningless chatter, all the while hiding his seething rage.

—but they'd gotten too damn close this time.

No more.

He'd needed twenty-six stitches.

Tucker refused to sit idly by, when the Guys in White were shooting at someone he loved; when he could do something about it. Sam wouldn't want him to do things this way; or, at least, would've wanted to go over the plan. Made sure he knew what he was getting into.

Tucker knew.

Bearing him aloft, the stained glass wings, of an Ibis.

Silicakinesis sounded like the punchline to a joke, maybe. Danny had thought so, at least. "'Controlling sand'?" Danny had teased, "look out ghosts! It's the beach superhero!" And Tucker had smiled and ducked his head bashfully, like he wasn't thinking about how many people wore glasses.

No, his powers weren't great for fighting ghosts, and it made sense that Danny's mind would go there first.

A ghost could turn insubstantial, allow matter to slip right through them.

Tucker knew that very well. How could he not? It was why they needed to use treated thread for Danny's stitches.

So no, silicakinesis on it's own wasn't well suited to ghost fights. Tucker accepted this.

The thing is, Tucker didn't come here to fight ghosts.

His powers let him control sand, it was true. It was also true that there was a surprising amount of sand in modern urban environments.

But even still: that, on it's own... tossing around sand could be useful, but it was highly situational. At least, it would be.

Tucker could do a lot more than toss around sand.

If you asked him to describe his powers, he might say that he had perfect control of sand in an area around himself.

That was true.

It was also true that he would be omitting some pertinent details, if he were to say that. Not lying, just... incompletely disseminating knowledge.

See, "sand" and "around himself" would be doing some very heavy lifting, in that sentence.

If he were to say it.

Danny knew about his powers, and ribbed him for a bit about not being able to fight ghosts with them, before moving on. Tucker let him; he wasn't sure how to phrase "I could violently shatter every piece of glass in this city," without sounding like he was planning to do so.

As it happened, modern urban environments had a lot of silicon.

Windows, sure; but mirrors, too. Cups, computer screens, eyeglasses, ...integrated circuits.

See, those fancy ghost-hunting weapons the Guys in White fought with? Full of silicon. Their computers? Their on-site servers? Irrecoverable. Any security system more sophisticated than a physical bolt or latch? Wouldn't you know it, computer controlled.

Tucker happened to know that the Guys in White had, to be generous, borrowed heavily, from the Doctors Fenton's designs, when creating their own versions of anti-ghost technologies.

A common element of those designs, when it came to anything more complicated than ecto-treated materials? Digital regulation of the power supplies.

There was no such thing as an analog ghost hunting weapon, not unless the Guys in White planned to start outfitting their goons with knockoff Fenton Anti-Creep sticks.

All their guns, their shields, their transportation, their communications...

An earpiece tucked into an ear canal turned into a bomb. If you were lucky, you would survive with hearing damage. If you weren't...

Tucker could sing at the edge of a city, and every window in several blocks would transmit and retransmit his voice, cascading out over the rest of the city and only stopping when it ran out of city to spread through.

And then he could scream.

So Tucker let Danny go with a joke, instead of pressing the point.

Sam...

When Tucker told Sam about his powers, about controlling sand with sound, she cocked her head, thought for a minute, and then walked over to her window and flicked it, looking back at him.

He nodded, once.

Sam tsk'd, and walked back over to him. All she said was,

"Guess Danny's not the only one with a killer voice."

Later, when she left to get them drinks, Sam brought back his poured into a tall glass.

He loved that about her, but Sam wasn't here right now. Sam was running around losing sleep trying to cover things up and harassing the shabby occultist that had showed up and started poking his nose into things with more insight than the rest.

Danny was sleeping off the injury, assuming another ghost hadn't dragged him out of bed this early in the morning.

It was a good thing it was the summer.

So Tucker was here alone, divested of his technology, if only to make things slightly simpler for himself.

He was wrapped in a suit of shattered glass, nestled against his skin like the warm and soothing sands of a beach.

Or a desert.

Behind him, spread the outstretched wings of an Ibis in flight.

The complex, Tucker knew, was far enough from anything—or anyone—else that no innocents would be harmed here today.

He also knew that even if his range didn't cover the complex in its entirety, his song would spread throughout the whole of it, carried as far and as deep as it needed to be until every corner rang with the sound.

If the Guys in White knew what was coming? If they were quick on the uptake? When Tucker started singing, they could throw aside their weapons, dig out their earpieces and get as far away as possible from anything with silicon in it.

It was a moot point. They didn't know about his powers.

Tucker knew that this would change that.

He also knew that the lesson would come too late to make a difference for some. For others, it would be remembered well.

From this day on, they would know that when the glass started to sing, they should throw down their weapons and run.

Run, somewhere without any windows, without any screens, and tuck themselves away in a corner with covered eyes and ears. If they were lucky, it would be enough for them to survive with only minor injuries.

As Tucker knew, and the Guys in White would soon be learning: exploding glass carried a lot of force.

A single raindrop landed on his cheek, below his eye, and Tucker knew that it wouldn't be long, now.

It was funny, Tucker reflected as he ran through his vocal warm-ups, that the Guys in White all wore sunglasses at all times, even on a morning that was as gloomy as this one.

...even indoors.

The organization didn't cheap out, either; not when it came to outfitting its goons. Tailored, spotless suits; shiny and impractical dress shoes; and of course, when it came to their ubiquitous and stupid fucking eyewear: real glass lenses.

No cheap plastic here.

Tucker had a feeling that would be changing, very soon.

He took a deep breath. It was time.

The heavens opened, and Tucker started to sing.

What if?

What if Pariah Dark getting out set off fireworks all across the supernatural community?

What if Danny was able to take care of things before anyone else that would have been able to do anything about it showed up?

Now Amity is crawling with supernatural types that want a piece of what ever was used to shove Pariah back into the sarcophagus, not realizing that it was the ghost kid that keeps play fighting with the other ghosts (and doesn't realize that the other ghosts are playing)?

Except John Constantine. He figures it out in ten minutes and started having a panic attack about how to keep the others from having the same realization.

[heylittleriotact]

So I can't stop sharing this after realizing it myself earlier... After Rook tells Emmerich that they're a virgin, during their dinner date, and he clearly processes what is a VERY unexpected fact to him, he tells them that's okay, and you 2 can just take things slowly. :) It's sweet, right? But also... Emmrich... how fast did YOU wanna take things? Because now this man's got me convinced he was SO down bad for Rook, he wasn't gonna waste time NOT hitting it now that they're together. I'm unwell

Okay so I actually really appreciate how ambiguous they left Rook and Emmrich's sexual relationship until the coffin scene in the third act: they wrote it such that the player could headcanon that they had an intimate relationship already leading up to that scene OR it was the first time they slept together, and I think that's AMAZING.

I headcanon that my Rook (not a virgin) and Emmrich slept together for the first time the night of the dinner date, and I think that he planned the night not with the intention of seducing Rook, but with the mindset that if they were interested in moving forward with the sexual aspect of their relationship, the privacy of the Necropolis might be a bit more relaxing that the Lighthouse. It's clear that Emmrich has pulled some strings to have the gardens roped off just for the purpose of their romantic dinner, he goes above and beyond with the meal, they have a very sweet conversation about their feelings and attraction to each other, mention previous dates (or lack of), and the whole thing ends with a fade to black.

... and I'm a romantic degenerate who sighs and stares dreamily into space while twirling my hair at the thought of them making love for the first time on a bed of soft flowers in the garden, illuminated by veilfire as wisps float lazily through the air... but I digress:

Since Emmrich trusts that Rook isn't pursuing him from a place of "charming flattery" I think he takes their new relationship incredibly seriously, and part of that is acknowledging the sexual aspect of it. He strikes me very much an actions over words kind of person (hence the charming flattery remark), and given their circumstances and what they're up against, facing danger, violence and the possibility of death on a daily basis (especially daunting for him), I feel like Emmrich would be very motivated to explore that aspect of the relationship as soon as Rook was comfortable with it.

He's also older, more experienced (even if Rook isn't a virgin), and gives off the vibe that he's extremely comfortable with sex and intimacy based on the banter he has with Davrin. I think he views physical intimacy as yet another way to express his feelings for Rook and show them how much they mean to him. This man isn't sure if they're going to see tomorrow, let alone next week: he's only got so much time to make sure that Rook knows how treasured they are, so that's going to include romantic dates, deep conversations, surprising them with thoughtful gifts, and making love as often as they can get away with it. Regardless of what comes next, he doesn't want Rook to doubt for a second how much they mean to him, but he puts the choice about sex squarely in their hands and will let them ultimately be the one who makes the call as to when they're ready to explore that.

Once their relationship begins, he appears to court Rook quite ardently, with enough enthusiasm that Harding takes notice and points out that he's been mopey and distracted lately, and goes so far as to suggest that perhaps he and Rook are taking things a little fast. Even he's aware that this is moving at quite a pace, and he's clearly worried about how other people will/might perceive that given their respective ages - he probably thinks that people think he's a dirty creepy old man: a besotted fool, but I don't think he could approach Rook any other way even if he tried.

There are no half measures with this man: once he's in, he is IN. He's not fucking playing: this isn't just a casual fling that he expects to end once this evanuris business is over. It's probably why he comes off as a bit guarded and hesitant to engage with Rook's earlier flirtations: he probably puts this amount of care, vulnerability, and passionate authenticity into ALL his romantic relationships, and has probably been hurt in the past because of it.

Anyway, this has become suuuuuper unnecessarily lengthy, but I have so many feelings about this man, and I am indeed unwell too.

[willbyersabyss]

It's calling you...

El saw Will in the void when she opened the 1983 gate. He was the one calling to her the whole time.

Brenner told El that the demogorgon was calling her, but what if it wasn't the demogorgon at all... what if it was Will.

The lines are constantly blurred between the demogorgon and Will in s1. Will talks through the lights, the demogorgon comes through the wall. They follow the demogorgon's blood trail, they find Will instead. Will calls Joyce, the demogorgon intercepts. We can never really tell whether it's Will or the “demogorgon.” This blur could carry over to the opening of the gate.

Speaking of phone calls, almost every missed phone call in the show is related to Will in some way. When people try to reach him, they fail. Only when Will calls them does it go through.

I can't even give all of the examples because there are too many, but Will is always associated with phone calls. Will called Joyce in s1, Mike has had multiple missed calls to Will, Nancy tried calling Will in s3, etc. Will has to call, he has to reach out.

When Max calls the Byers, it doesn't just go to voicemail, it's busy. Someone is using the phone despite no one being there. That someone is Will. One of the first scenes we see is Will calling the police, but he doesn't call them, he calls... someone else. Whoever it was, they picked up. But there's no sound other than screeching. Who was screeching? We'll get to that in a bit...

El was called to. The "demogorgon" wanted her. So we have Will who is constantly associated with phone calls, but he's also mixed up with the demogorgon. Why? El answered his call.

The phone call Bob tells Joyce to let go is immediately followed by the lab's lights going haywire, then a door to the Upside Down opens for Will. They also cut to a faucet dripping and a clock going unusually fast. El's void is made of water and there's a clock ticking sound just before she opens the gate. These scenes parallel. The 1983 gate was opened for Will. He was calling out to her, just like the phone.

"All I needed was someone to open the door. And you did that for me without even realizing it." Ok Vecna I'm pretty sure El noticed the giant gate in the wall. So what didn't she realize? El didn't know Will was the one calling to her.

When Mike asked if El saw Will, she flipped the DnD board to the back. We assume she means the Upside Down, but what if that's not what she meant. What if she meant she saw him in the void? The back of the board is pitch black just like her void.

She places Will's character right next to the demogorgon. How does El know that Will is where the demogorgon is? She had to have seen him NEXT TO IT. This is the first time in the story where we see El sensing Will, so why would we assume she saw him in the UD before this point? She hasn't used her tracking power since she opened the gate. There's only one time she could have seen him. When she contacted the demogorgon, there might have been someone else there, lurking behind. Will!

When El puts Will over the walkie, Lucas says this. The name Blackburn means "black stream." The void is black and made of water. Could this be hinting at El tapping into the neighbor of the demogorgon in the void? Mike follows this with "Did that sound like a baby to you? That was Will." Hm that's interesting because we can actually hear Will in the void when El sees the demogorgon for the first time.

Yeah, that's right. You can hear him.

I can only add one video to this post so the number in the corner will align with the text accordingly!

I'm going to sound like a broken record because I've talked about this a few times already, but I think I finally put all the pieces together:

1 - When it cuts to the speaker, you can hear a faint voice come through. This sounds just like Will when he tells El to hurry. So we have a real "Did that sound like a demogorgon to you? That was Will!" moment. If you line up the hurry clip with the speaker video (not pictured), Will starts to disappear in Castle Byers at the exact time El breaks out of the void in the other clip. They're connected.

We don't actually see what's making the noises in the void the first round, we only hear it. What would the reason for this omission be?

I think the moment we see Will in the Upside Down Castle Byers is the beginning of everything. That's when the gate opened.

2 - The scream we hear when El opens the gate is the same scream that breaks Castle Byers. While this is just a demogorgon sound, it's interesting that they used the one that sounds the most human. Especially when this is the least common sound it makes. It has the same cadence and length in both clips!

I would also like to note that this sound has played when a demogorgon wasn’t directly seen. When Nancy emerges from the tree gate, we hear this weird scream too even though the demogorgon clearly wasn’t coming through with her. Gate, scream, invisible demogorgon.

The egg the demogorgon is eating when she touches it is about 20 feet away from Castle Byers. It can't be a coincidence that they placed them so close. They could've had Hopper come across that egg anywhere, why Castle Byers?

Dustin used an egg to test if the deprivation bath was ready. El then found Will in UD Castle Byers using this bath. Eggs are associated with the gate opening, they used an egg just before she finds Will, and THE egg is outside Castle Byers. Will being in Castle Byers is related to the gate opening.

So what if the scream Will hears was the same scream from the gate opening? We don't see a creature on the other side of the blast, just white fog, so can we be sure it was the monster opening the door? Maybe the force of El opening the gate is what broke it. When people disappear from the void, they leave behind the fog we see outside of Castle Byers after the blast. This fog doesn't usually appear in the UD.

Most people don't sense El when she reaches out to them in the void, but Will did. He was reaching out to her. When El opens the gate, Will was already in Castle Byers in the UD. There's time shenanigans here. Time doesn't really flow how it should in the void. El was able to see a pregnant Terry in there before she was swept into her memory loop. Time also is weird in the UD. It wouldn't be crazy for El to be able to open the mother gate after Will got kidnapped in a weird paradox way.

3 - Coming back to phone call weirdness for a second, Will hears screeching over the phone. This may be a stretch, but it kind of sounds like a distorted version of El's screams when she opens the gate? Then Will's phone call was interrupted by the creature unlatching the door. So when Will's call goes through, a door opens. And he's met with the answer to his most fateful call. He hears El screeching as she opens the gate because that was the result of him reaching out.

In their respective universes, both Will and the demogorgon destroy Castle Byers. So that's another mix up between the two. If Will really was the one calling out to El before she opened the gate, his destruction of Castle Byers is not only a physical representation of how he inadvertently destroyed it, but also an emotional representation. Will accidentally created his own kidnapping by asking El to open the gate. He created the trauma that led to his childhood destruction. The rod imagery at the end of this scene proves that.

Another possible reach, but we know that it was raining the night Castle Byers was built and the night Will destroyed it. If El's journey through the watery void also indirectly caused the destruction and creation of the UD Castle Byers, there's more water connections there. The UD isn't just mirroring visuals, but scenarios too.

When Hopper inspects the remains of Castle Byers, he finds a lion plushie. El was cuddling a lion plushie when Brenner told her she was going to make contact with whatever was calling her. The lion causes Hopper to flashback to Sara and El was in a flashback when we see her with her lion. So what if UD Castle Byers is a "flashback" to when the gate opened?

Just before UD Castle Byers was destroyed, Will was singing Should I Stay or Should I Go. While these were not the lines he was singing, the song makes references to time weirdness. "I'll be here till the end of time" implies that Will is stuck in a time loop when he's in the UD. This song being sung during this scene may hint at its significance in the time loop.

Then there's lines alluding to kneeling in a black void with something on your back. Interesting how the demogorgon was crouched down in the void when El touched its back.

Speaking of kneeling, El approaches Billy in the void the exact same way she does the demogorgon. Billy, who is literally named William. I'm telling you the Will demogorgon mix up never ends. Billy makes himself disappear the same way Will does in the void scene. Oh and when El is looking for the source in Billy's mindscape, the song "William" plays. Very subtle (sarcasm). Will is the source.

Ok but how did the gate open?

Will died.

In s4, we find out that gates can be created by killing people. We also find out that music can open gates in the mind. Interesting how both of those things happen to Will around the UD Castle Byers scene. Will was singing to himself, then he got taken to the library where he died.

The big boy gates all meet at that library where there's a giant clock. Will was the fifth and final sacrifice. But wait! The original gate opened at the lab, not the library. Perhaps Will died twice... once at Castle Byers for a split second, then again at the library. The Castle Byers death opened mother gate, but the library death had delayed effects.

Or Will didn't die twice and it was just a joint effort between El and Will.

El and Will have opened a gate together before. Every time El contacted Will up to this point, it didn't open a gate. Only when Will reached out himself did a gate open. We're right back to Will being the one calling out. He had to try for it to work.

Will was on the brink of death in Castle Byers. Maybe he wanted a gate to open right then and there so he could be saved. But time had different plans. So when Will called out to El in the void, she answered, and they opened the gate together, not knowing that this actually causes his suffering rather than heal it.

In s2 when they figure out that Will spelled out "close gate," the phone rings. They rip the phone off the wall. Another missed call associated with the gate. But this time, it was Will telling them to close it. He had to tell them to ignore the call. They destroy the call, they close the gate.

It's also possible that Will's call for help was manipulated by Vecna. Maybe Vecna showed El the demogorgon to hide his true intentions. Will has something Vecna needs to open the gate. Not to make everything about Will's mind theory, but if the UD is Will's mindscape, it could explain why Will’s call for help resulted in a gate. Max's call for help through music opened a gate to her mind. So is it really that far off to say that Will's did the same?

Alright lets get a run down of the timeline:

El reaches out to Will in Castle Byers, Will tells El to hurry. This aligns with the first call El hears in the void.

A bit later, El revisits the call, assuming it was the demogorgon. In a startled scramble, she accidentally makes contact with Will who was on the brink of death about 20 feet away. Their joint energy opens the gate and destroys Castle Byers.

This energy attracts whatever took Will to the library. Will is kidnapped once more and dies. This joins the gates in 1986?

We know that the scene of Will getting taken from Castle Byers to the library is the opening scene of s5. Both s3 and s4 begin with a gate opening. Wouldn't it be fitting for the s5 opener to be the gate that started it all?

[novastaree]

i love 15x8 but its sometimes a little nonsensical to me but also so amazing at the same time?!?!

first off chuck being at a casino just killing people and being served is so real because if i was god and i was fed up id pull the same shit as him. And then when we see Adam and Michael they treat the waiter and the people at the dinner kindly even paying when they don't really need to and Michael going out of his way to fix everyones memory was a good non-mentioned comparison between the two and also made me feel like even though he wasn't on screen Michael changed alongside adam because szn 5 Michael was scary as shit and probably didn't care about the peoples feelings like his father

then we get to the nonsensical part which is honestly the dialog first up the diner scene. Adam says he can't go to college but he wants to get a little job and i just don't think Michael will sit back as Adam gets a little job in any way he wouldn't sit back during college. it is nice Adam wants to actually pay people even though if i was in his stop no way in hell (pun hehe) id do that

(edit but also them talking about the fast food killing him??? No it won't You're an archangel buddy nothing can affect him why are you shaming him 😭😭😭)

next is Michael getting caught in fucking holy fire by Castiel??? In season 5 literally Uriel got rid of holy oil before he entered a room (or maybe it was Michael I'm pretty sure it was uriel tho) And you're telling me Michael who got torched by holy fire and didn't seem to have a good time the first time by the person he was called by didn't get rid of the oil before he stepped foot near them and also it's a Castiel forever to drop that stupid fucking lighter he could stepped out. And How did Michael just let them put the stupid cuffs on He could have just thrown one of these hoes into the fire and stepped out when they were trying to cuff him??? Also they literally got him to have a conversation with him why the fuck would they kidnap him?

and my favorite favorite thing to complain about in this episode is their stupid ass conversations They start off by trying to get Michael who they just kidnapped practically to understand their side. And then when that's not obviously working and he's being kind of bitchy to them Michael says like "You who left me in hell and let your own brother rot" Sam spews some bullshit like "Well in our line of work We got to get used to lost causes blah blah blah blah blah" And first off Michael saying you who left your brother to rot in hell?? So did you and for like a million times longer what 😭 But then they think instead of calling him out on his hypocrisy they start going off about their job and bullshit! WHY WOULD MICHAEL CARE DUDE HE'S AN ANGEL HE DOESN'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOUR LINE OF WORK!!!

I did love Michael and castiel's fight but they both looked just a bit constipated 🤏

What made me really mad and like confused was 'when we locked away the darkness this was the spell' DIDN'T YOU DO THAT BEFORE EARTH AND PURGATORY AND THE UNIVERSE WAS A THING???? How the fuck is it a spell??? The final season I feel like they really were just giving any solution.

Also it's so funny to me how incredibly powerful Michael is even in these stupid fucking angel cuffs like it felt like the only thing it really was doing was making it so he couldn't get out of the cuffs but didn't do shit besides that. like he opened up a portal to purgatory which Raphael another archangel couldn't fucking do except for like one day a year or something. BUT MICHAEL BEING SO POWERFUL ALSO CONFUSES ME BECAUSE IF HE CAN JUST OPEN UP FUCKING PORTALS TO ANOTHER FUCKING UNIVERSES WHY DIDN'T HE JUST OPEN UP A FEW DIFFERENT PORTALS TO GET OUT OF THE FUCKING CAGE

Also I might be the only one but I feel like Adam accepting their apology just felt like him saying 'get me the fuck out of here I'm so done' Also him cursing Castiel was funny "Since when do we get what we deserve?" looks to Castiel and walks out. yeah he totally knew that the gay angel was fucked personally if I was Adam I would have slapped Dean before I walked out but you know cursing his angel boyfriend is probably just as good

Also Adam's so peaceful in this episode like maybe it's cuz he doesn't want to like repeat what happened the first time he met his brothers when he kind of got possessed immediately by an archangel but now that he is what was his like consequence for being kind of a dick to them, like imo he totally should have cuz even though he doesn't really look it to us I'm pretty sure canonically he was still 19 yk

anyways that was a lot but I'm pretty sure it's all of my thoughts on this episode a beautiful crazy episode

[universalzones]

"Correct me if I'm mistaken, though wasn't Surge the only one who damaged that town? I remember mentioning Kitsunami only showed after the damage was done, and snuck out without anyone even seeing him. Other than that all his direct attacks were only against Sonic and Tails, which I doubt either will admit to GUN. In that sense they shouldn't have any legal authority to arrest him, or at the very least give him a lesser charge of being an accessory." Blaze could only see them getting him as an accessory, unless Surge said something to disprove that.

"Not to mention I don't think I agree with their claim Belle is a badnik. I mean, seems to be she's only made choices to help people and stop Eggman. I think that means she's just her own person and has rights. Not sure if you know this, though she's also got a bit of a good reputation going around Mobius. It'd be a bad look to take Belle in and claim she might be a badnik." Rowan guessed his sister being a highly respect lawyer helps.

"I'm not sure if this is of any help, though the head of the village I was built in granted me a birth certificate, and he was also legally voted and registered as mayor of the village. That means I'm a formal citizen, right?" Belle had never given it much thought than a meaningful gift from the mayor, though maybe it could actually come in handy.

"Legally it does as by default you would've been assigned a social security number which GUN should easily be able to look up in a matter of seconds if they have too. I'd say whenever you call the president back inform this to them and let Belle talk to them. Under that kind of pressure it could twist his arm to not look at it as a badnik. No threats, no schemes, or tricks involved. Just pure facts."

"Well, at least we found some legal ground to stand on. At the very least we stand a high chance of preventing Belle from being arrested and possibly lessening Kitsunami's charges to just being an accessory. It should make it easier to take the pill of shutting down for the time being go down easier."

"Yeah, it really doesn't, though I guess we'll just have to take it. Unless anyone else has any last minute ideas to get GUN to buzz off." Rowan doubts anyone has any other ideas or legal loopholes at this point. The lemur would hopefully be able to convince her sister to defend Surge and Kitsunami at the very least.

Lanolin's eyes were locked on the floor as everyone spoke there minds, among them perhaps only Blaze fully understood there situation. For what it was worth there world had rarely relied on the Federation, but it had always been a ruling body. They made the laws, they controlled the military, they had all the capital. If there was one organization that held all the cards in this world it was them. Trying to bully there way to victory felt like a sure fire way to piss them off. Sure they could threaten them with Sol's military, but then what? They come some kind of new military power? Who then do they answer to? As much as she HATED it! and she did, she didn't see a path to victory.

" It doesn't matter if they knew about Clutch or, Surge and Kitsunami, or even Belle and did nothing. The fact is when presented to the public how do you think it would reflect on us? Harboring Criminals who destroyed half a city. Hiding a Badnik within the base, and consorting with a knowing crime boss... GUN doesn't even need to fabricate a story--- They could tell the truth and it would still look bad for us. "

She spoke in a softer tone as she tensed up and seemed to feel the weight of her position for the first time. This was what it meant to be a leader--- saying what no one wanted to hear.

" Having leverage is good, But we can't just throw it in there face either. One miss step, one wrong sentence, and they declare restoration went rogue... cease our assets, cut off our fending, and declare its members criminals... They don't need to attack us today, to win tomorrow, and expecting Sol to step in with military force--- that looks like Blaze is planning an invasion... "

Her eyes went to Belle as she looked tired all of a sudden, like the day was wearing on her. The weight of what they faced had already dawned on her and she could not find a victory condition. No She had a feeling that the Federation had them dead to rights.

" I don't disagree belle but how do you think GUN would spin that? We both know Omega is like a dog to them, they send him in to clean house, and keep him under constant observation. "

Miles had been listening for awhile now without speaking a word to anyone. He just looked to have been thinking long and hard. It was a complicated mess, and Lanolin was right that going at this with a club was going to be messy. Confronting them with what little information they had, was going to backfire and it would make it all worse he figured.

Yet there was another option and Lanolin had already hinted at it.

" If we confront them now we lose, its just that simple. Showing our cards at this juncture... We'd tip our hand to early. As much as i hate to admit it... I think here today we have ot concede... let them have there little investigation really no other course that doesn't lead to conflict between us and the federation... "

" However, what we need is evidence that this was a big plot on there end. If we can prove that then in court we might have a chance... with enough capital and the right lawyers we can argue our case. But trying to argue it with this president here and now? it's like yelling at cop because he's gonna give you a ticket... or worse trying to bribe the cop. "

" that's my play, we let them think they've won and act behind the scenes--- Convert operations. It's our best play...we can use mimic as a bargaining chip to show our good will. Once we know more we can make a plan to counter GUN and the Federation but right now... if we act rashly we end up terrorists on a watch list... that's my idea, and i think our best shot of saving restoration "

Sonic didn't respond as he was staring at the wall grinding his teeth. He didn't get angry often but, this was one of those moments he felt like he was being dicked over. Yea Tails might be right but, he didn't have to like it! He knew the kid was smart, and maybe a conflict would be bad! but letting these guys use shitty political tactics on them sucked!

" So that's it? Just roll over and play dead? I'm still for butt kickin' let them call me a terrorist if they want... they can do it while choking on there teeth--- But what ever the plan i'll do my part. But this kinda stuff ain't my style... "

[obsessive-reylin]

TW: mention of social anxiety and stalking

The yandere content that I’m writing is absolutely in no way me promoting this type of behaviour. I do not romanticise it; this is just a way for me to explore the more darker side of my writing. If you do relate to these characters or think that it’s romantic, please seek help.

You are welcome to send asks/requests about my existing characters or others. Just make sure to read my rules.

If someone had ever told you that there was still bullying present, in the final year of high school, you would have laughed in their faces. What kind of idiot has enough spare time and immaturity to go around and mock somebody with exams coming up and university/college applications, while also transitioning into the early stages of adulthood? Well, 13 year of school and there you were, trying to study in class while some asshole kept criticizing your looks, your handwriting, even the fact that you were reading out loud. You didn’t really care for it since you knew he was doing that to almost anyone who would let him get away with it, and frankly, you did not have the energy to tell him off or get confrontational. Plus, one of the reasons teachers let him get away with it is because his parents were also teachers at this school, so how the hell anyone could complain.

So, every day, whenever you would bump into him, you would just continue on with your life like any other day before meeting him. He would just throw insult after insult at you, before moving on to another one of his other victims. But the worst part, was that you barely had friends, only acquaintances that you would talk to frequently, so venting to them about your bully was obviously off the charts. You didn’t need to bother them and risk overbearing them with something they didn’t care about and be the loner of the school.

But then everything changed when you bumped into Devon at the local library. Devon was… a delinquent as teachers liked to call him: he always skipped classes, he didn’t listen to the teacher that he didn’t respect, and he always got into fights (that he never started mind you). But with you ? He was a sweetheart. Well, he was a sweetheart with anyone that didn’t ask for trouble, but it was different with you. He always proposed to hang out with you, help you with homework and such, and after you two became friends, there wasn't a day when your bully bothered you. His friendship really saved your final year !

And it seems like you fixed his attitude in return. Ever since you two became friends, he stopped getting into fights, often times just threatening the ones who asked for one and walking away. He came to school every day, not just for homework and tests, and he never talked back to teachers, no matter how much he wanted to point out their ridiculous rules.

Your friendship got so strong, in fact, that some students around the school theorized that the two of you were dating. You of course quietly laughed to yourself and got embarrassed by the subject. You finally had a friend, a true friend, and you were afraid that these rumours would ruin things for you. Sure, he was handsome enough and had a nice personality but dating him didn’t really seem like something that you would be satisfied with.

“So, [Reader], you and Devon are dating, right ? You two are totally in love.”

It was lunch, you were sitting with Devon and some other students when the dreaded question came up. You could only blush and stay quiet at that, due to your social anxiety, but your friend quickly stepped up to reject the accusation, as he always did.

“Me ? In love with [Reader] ? You're an absolute clown for thinking that.”

He always just got sarcastic responses when he denied anything between the two of you, but you were still grateful that he was decent enough to not joke about it. You had told him countless times how much public attention was making you uncomfortable, especially when it was directed at you by a bunch of people you didn’t really know.

And you thought he would always respect that clear boundary until one day, out of the blue, you’re standing in the school hallway, surrounded by a sea of classmates and others, with him professing his feelings and asking you to date him. He knew how much that would make you uncomfortable, he knew, and yet he still did it. He couldn’t have possibly done it on purpose, right ? Well, he did, he confessed it himself shortly after you two left, as he accompanied you to your home.

“Y-you are an ass… How could you do this to me, Devon ? Why the hell would you do this to me ?”

“Darling-” he whispers into your ear, “You cannot really blame me for this… All is fair in love and war, right ? So how could I ever deny myself the opportunity to love you ?”

After that, he continued to confess to every single thing that he did in order to get close to you. He confessed to stalking you ever since he laid his eyes on you. He confessed on threatening the guy that bullied you so that he left you alone. He also confessed that he asked you out in front of others because he knew you would be unable to say no. And worst of all, he told you that this was your fault for not being able to stand up for yourself, that if you could just suck it up and be normal around people, this wouldn't have happened.

And that got you thinking that maybe he was right. Perhaps this was your punishment for your behaviour. It didn’t make you feel better, though, just made you want to curl up into a ball and cry until it would hurt your eyes. And every single time you broke down, Devon would be here for you, offering his shoulder to cry on, and not so secretly relishing in the fact that he was the only one that could make you feel better. And you could only accept it, because nobody would offer you the same attention that he did, he was sure to make you believe that.

Thank you so much for reading ! Why don't you spend some more time on my blog and look through my navigation ?

[kyokutsu-sama]

Happy birthday Nemi!

Sanemi x reader| fluff birthday fic

A/n- Since today is my husband's birthday, I wrote something cute for him❤️🎂

Happy birthday Sanemi Shinazugawa. I love you🤍🖤

Tw: little suggestive at the end

🔸️✨️🔸️✨️🔸️✨️🔸️✨️🔸️✨️🔸️✨️🔸️✨️🔸️

Today would be Sanemi's birthday. He personally didn't want to have a big party, but you couldn't let that date go by unnoticed. whether he liked it or not. So you made him an offer to go out with him and have dinner somewhere. Just the two of you. He rolled his eyes but ended up accepting. Besides, he wouldn't turn down an invitation from you because he loved you.

"You're really stubborn, huh?"He said after sitting at the table with you

"I learned from you! You winked, giving him a playful smile." Baby, come on, today is your birthday. Do you really think I would forget that day? Master Ubuyashiki even made a point of giving you a day off. You should take advantage of it since it's not every day that you have a free night, you spend a lot of nights at work and during the day you just train and don't do much about it. Just try to relax for now, okay?" You grabbed his hand and squeezed it lightly and he sighed heavily

You were right and he couldn't hide it. His job wasn't like other people's. He couldn't take vacations whenever he wanted or days off, he couldn't pretend that everything was fine. It was serious and dangerous, you could lose your life for a second of distraction. He was quite competent but he also had to let go of that posture from time to time to avoid going crazy even more.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's just relax then." He said

And so it was, you ordered a lot of food and drinks. You knew that Sanemi wasn't much of a drinker, but seeing him drink made you challenge him. Besides, the night was just beginning and you still wanted him to have a little more fun.

"Hey Nemi?" You called while he was arranging the bowls

"What?"

"Do you think you can drink a little more or have you already reached your limit with only two glasses?" You smiled, teasingly

He stopped what he was doing when it starting sounding like a challenge. Sanemi was a man driven by challenge and by taking risks, whenever you challenged or tease him he felt the need to teach you a lesson. It was then that your boyfriend looked up from the empty bowls to meet your eyes, with a smirk. Oh you were crossing the boundaries of this man's patience, playing dangerous games like this one with him.

"Are you trying to tease me, brat?" He narrowed his eyes

"Me? I was just wondering what your limit would be."

"My limit? Girl, you should know by now that your man has no limits."

"Well, in that case, why don't we go to the bar down the street?"

"If you insist, I'm in. And then don't say I didn't warn you, you stubborn idiot." He said, getting up from the table and you followed right behind

You entered the establishment and there were a lot of people there having fun too. You followed him to the counter and then you started choosing what to drink.

You then decided to order a bottle of sake to share between the two of you. You looked at him, still with the challenging smile that was starting to make him uspet. You could tell just by the veins bulging in his neck and also on his face, that meant your provocations were having an effect on him and that was a point for you.

"I'll make sure to wipe that stupid smile off your face when I prove to you that I can handle this bottle and a few more." He said before bringing the glass to his lips and drinking straight away

"We'll see then, sweetheart." You said, drinking after him

Result: You both got drunk, however, you seemed more sober than him since he was the one who supported you all the way home and after he also almost got into a fight because of some idiot who was looking at you too much. For a stubborn man like him who said he wouldn't get drunk, he wasn't sober at all. And it all started after the second bottle. Not after all the others he said he could handle.

"Nemi, why did you have to punch him like that? That man almost die. You'rea beast!" You said as you staggered holding him on the way home

"He was looking at you and you're my girlfriend and I don't like it when other fuckers look at what's mine, do you got it now?" He grumbled, looking at you and you just shook your head

"You're always so jealous, man." You giggled and he frowned

"You don't usually complain about this, what is it now? You don't like it?"

"Forget it. Our house is right there." You pointed out

"Finally!"

You entered the house with him and closed the door, placing your boyfriend on the couch in the living room. He gave a long sigh as his body fell into the comfort of the couch. This man only needed two things at that moment, the comfort of home and a hug from you.

"Stay here for a while, I just need to go to get some--" You were about to finish the sentence but he pulled you onto his lap, making you hold onto his shoulders to balance yourself

"Don't you dare, stay still here for a moment and shut up. I just need your hug for a fucking minute, okay?" He said in a deep, husky voice. You felt a shiver run through you, the drink really did things to him.

"Does drinking leave you wanting cuddles and attention? What a needy boy you are." You smile, arranging the bangs that fell in his face.

"Yes, that does." He said placing his head in the crook of your neck and kissing all over that corner. "And I need you to stay here with me. I love having you in my arms. Just for me." He whispered

"Oh yeah? Alright then, I'll stay here with you until you fall asleep then." Your fingers caressed the white strands of his hair as he hugged you tightly, making sure you weren't going anywhere.

"You were my best gift today, you know?" He confessed, moving his face away from your neck and looking at you and you smiled at you

"Thank you. I just wanted you to have a good day and have fun."

"You really did, brat."

"When are you going to stop calling me that?"

"When you stop acting like one and when you stop being a stubborn ass." He said, slapping your ass and you whimpered, caressing that area

"Babe, don't be mean, you idiot." You pinched his cheek and he gave a little smile.

"You're the idiot here. MY idiot, by the way." He placed his head on your chest and rested it there

You just laughed at him for the way he was acting at that moment, after all it wasn't just you who was a brat, he also seemed to be acting like one but you didn't say anything. Taking the opportunity to point this out later when he was sober.

Oh yeah, because you were going to tell him how needy he seemed when he was drinking. His arms wouldn't let go of you for a minute and his lips wouldn't stop spreading kisses all over you. He wasn't usually so clingy when sober but when he drank a little too much, he would reveal that side of himself and it was cute, very cute considering he was always rough and tough. After all, even the Wind Hashira had a soft side. A soft side that he only showed to you. His pretty girlfriend.

"I love you Nemi." You placed small kisses on the top of his head and then cupped his cheeks with your hands. "Happy birthday, baby!"You kissed his lips and his hands grabbed your waist

"I love you so much too." He confessed kissing you and pulling you for a tight hug."But you know? I think we can still enjoy a few more hours until dawn." He whispered close to your lips, giving a suggestive look that you already knew well

"Well, today is your day, so I will not oppose my love's wishes." You said, winking at him

"Good."

[aerkan]

Okay, so, I'm feeling a bit melancholic right now and I, well, I guess I want to share my thoughts in case someone relates or needs to know they're not alone.

I've figured out a few years back that I'm firmly set in the aroace spectrum. I've never had a crush on anyone except for some fictional characters or famous people, but even then the farthest my 'affections' have gotten was a strong urge to offer them a hug, or wanting to hang out and laugh. Which I very quickly found out was the exact same as for my closest friends, just magnified by my excitement of the stories tied to those characters or my joy at hearing the person's jokes.

I've never been interested in sex. At all. I don't like reading about it, I get bored watching it, and the prospect of experiencing it fills me with nothing other than dread and annoyance. That's not to say I'm ignorant about it. I'm not. I know how it works, I know what 'my role' would be should I ever try it. But while all my friends were experimenting with it during our teens I stayed far away from the dating pool. Mostly.

I had my first kiss when I was 17. I felt weird right after because I've read a lot of romantic stories (looking back on it, it wasn't for the romance itself but the emotional closeness between the characters but whatever) and first kisses were meant to be something one should enjoy. Even my friends have said so. However, I felt nothing, only bored. It was my first kiss and I wished I could do something more fun.

So yeah, that didn't click and I spent the whole evening reasearching what the hell was wrong with me (turns out, there was nothing wrong with me). That's how the idea of me being ace took root but I wasn't very sure about it (didn't want to be).

Since then there have been a few more kisses, but nothing to be writing home about. I guess I've been trying to see if anything changed. It didn't. Gradually I had to admit to myself that I'm ace and what that means for me. After the initial shock of the new label I very quickly became comfortable being ace. It fit me and I was happy.

However, well, lately most my friends have started dating. Finding their life partners. My new friends already had lovers, when I met them or are also finding love. And I'm excited for them, really am. But this new development made me confront another part of my identity, which I've been steadily ignoring for years now despite knowing it wasn't exactly the norm.

I'm aromantic! (*throwing confetti*)

I've never experienced romantic love and probably never will. I adore my friends, they are the most important people in my life and I would do a lot of f*cked up things for them to be happy. And for the most part I'm okay with just hanging out with my classmates and seeing my other friends from time to time, making plans to see each other more when we're all free. But I also feel unbearably lonely sometimes. I feel unwanted, ignored and left out simply because I can't offer the same 'normal' conversations. I feel disconnected from society and I desperately long for a partner that would love me, that I could talk to every day, that I could hug and laugh with. Someone, who would be there when I get home, maybe waiting with a good meal or excited to tell me about the new tv show they started watching while I was gone.

Basically, what I'm saying is... I want a roomate. I want someone to live with me but someone who sleeps in a different bed. Someone who would let me cuddle them from time to time when life gets a bit harder than I can bear and someone who would be there when I need a laugh. Someone I can cook with or sing with. I want a friend living with me who wouldn't have that 'special someone'. I want someone who would want the same from me.

And the hardest part about this? Knowing I'm probably never going to have that. These days I live with this terrifying certainty I'm going to die alone and well... I already feel crushingly lonely right now. I can't imagine feeling like this for the rest of my life.

...well, this got really depressing. Wasn't the point, but it is the truth. I love being aroace, I love the warm little feeling I get when I make someone happy or the giddy butterflies in my chest when I make someone laugh. Ultimately, I love being alive to be excited about sharing a smile with a stranger. I would simply prefer if so many of my nights weren't filled with the existentinal dread of being left behind.

Sorry for the ramble guys, have a cute pokemon cause you're awesome!

[miserythebanshee]

"Would you wanna be together?"

A/N: This is just a short little thought I had about Hobie and spider!Reader finally confessing their feelings for each other. Don't think I specified pronouns, gender, or race so can be read as whatever! Reader was bitten by the Portia Spider (bc it's my favorite spider)

Fun fact: the Portia Spider, also known as the fringed jumping spider, is said to be the most intelligent spider. (if you like spiders I highly recommend looking it up bc it's so cute)

W/C: 872

Hobie Brown x Alt!spider!Reader

You and hobie met during a spider meeting where Miguel introduced you to the team.

Off the bat he thought you were pretty cool (super cool actually but Hobie would never admit that).

He would often make little comments on your clothing, calling it punk (even if it wasn't). Even asking for DIY advise

We all know hobie is pretty smart (a lot of the spider people are) but you were the techy one (and arguably smarter than the majority of the spider people simply bc of the type of spider that bit you). He would still offer to help with new gadgets and gizmos and even take over when you just didn't know what to do.

He was in awe when he saw you in action the first time. How smart you are and how quickly you were able to apprehend the bad guy with some new gadget you whipped up with the crap around you.

At times when you were so absorbed in your work to notice really anything around you, headphones blasting, Hobie would just watch you. Before you guys were friends you thought it was a bit weird, but soon as your friendship blossomed and grew you found his silent presence comforting.

Neither of you two knew you guys liked each other. The other spider people did -even miguel- but no one said anything. There was definitely a bit going on for how long it would take either of you to realize your feelings. Now you guys have known each other for a year and a half when Miles Morales is fully accepted into the spider society (let's pretend spider-man into the spider verse didn't end the way it did and he joined the spider society ok).

You are sitting on a chair fiddling with whatever new project Miguel has you doing, Hobie is sitting next to you -very closely- playing with his guitar. Miles, Pav, and Gwen walk in and catch you and Hobie literally in each other bubbles doing your own thing. 

“You guys are so cute” Miles says as he walks up to you and Hobie.

Pav and Gwen stifle their laughters at how fluster you both become

You nor Hobie speak up, both at a loss for words. Miles is just standing there so confused, he genuinely thought y'all were a thing but now he doesn’t know.

“Hobie and I aren’t together” you responde, finally able to find your words.

Miles, ever the awkward soul, just says “oh” then walks away making up some half ass excuse on why he has to leave,

Gwen and Pav can’t keep their laughter in anymore, bursting at the seems they turn into two hyenas. Then they too leave following Miles

You both are now sitting there, still very close, flustered with an air of awkwardness surrounding you both. You try to get back to your work, after all Miguel did give you a deadline and we all know how Miguel gets when things don’t go his way. Though Miles inaccurate assumption of you guys did awake something in Hobie -in you both

A feeling Hobie wasn’t really aware he felt. 

Building up the courage Hobie speaks softly, a volume that is only meant for you to hear, “Would you wanna be together”.

You aren’t sure if you were supposed to hear that because of how soft his voice was and because of how anxious he sounded. Hobie never cared much about other opinions of him and was very confident about his actions and himself but the way he spoke

sounded sacred and truth be told he was. Hobie never had ever really felt this way about someone that's probably why he pushed these feelings down. But now here he was soft spoken and lacking his usual nonchalant demeanor. 

You took off your headphones slowly resting them on your workbench. Turning slightly in your chair to better face Hobie. Your faces mere inches apart, eyes staring into each other, souls opening for the other. 

You too worked up the courage and at a tone matching his you spoke, “Hobie”, you began, “would you wanna go on a date -with me”. 

Hobie smiled softly, his aura turning a soft shade of pink that was still so very Hobie. He let out an airy laugh, pushing away some hair that had fallen in your face he responded, “I’d love to Dove”

Slowly that same hand cupped your cheek ever so gently, his soft brown eyes fell down to your lips. Your eyes traced his features then following his eye line you realized what he wanted. So you lifted your hands up to cup both sides of his head then leaned ever so slowly in, giving him a sufficient amount of time to back out if he wanted, your lips met. The Kiss was short lived but filled with love and a promise of more. You both pulled away small smiles painting both your features and soft giggles escaping both your lips. You knew that harboring feelings and pushing them down was never good and it would always feel better to just express them but gods you never thought it would have felt this good.

A/N: If you guys liked this let me know if you'd want a little story of what their date would be like or anything I wanna write so more for Hobie.

[17panicattacksinatrenchcoat]

max's writing tips 7: balancing your creations and mental health

heads up! this post is more serious than my other writing advice content and contains light discussions of burnout, anxiety and depression. hiding it behind the 'keep reading' button for those who may find it upsetting

please remember that this is my personal experience, and that the advice I give here is what helped me recover from a bad time, and avoid burnout in the future. I hope my advice can also help you, but if it doesn't, that's okay too! writing advice isn't one size fits all.

Do not push yourself to extremes for the sake of completing a challenge or meeting an arbitrary deadline- Challenging yourself and setting goals is great so long as they are feasible and you will not hurt yourself doing them. In January of this year, I felt like I hadn't been writing enough and forced myself to write every day until I completed the first draft of a novel I'd been putting off. This wasn't healthy because a) I write at a pretty slow pace --I have to let my projects marinate in my head for a good amount of time, and prefer to work multiple projects at once-- so the goal was pretty much the opposite of my preferred writing process and b) I did this with no planning other than writing upwards of 2k words each day for three months. This did not go as planned: I had to stop short of my goal. I did write 80k words (none of which were very good) at the cost of my physical and mental health. After finishing work and life stuff I would sit down at my computer for five hours and wrack out a few thousand words every day for all of January, February, and about half of March. I forgot to drink water and eat enough, lived off of caffeine, and did not sleep because I was planning the next day's work; obviously, this was terrible for me and I felt pretty ill most of the time. My anxiety also flared up during this time. I thought I was having some kind of health problem because I'd lost a bit of weight, was having bad headaches, and was constantly out of breath; I didn't realize until I took a break that I didn't have a medical condition, but that I'd been overworking myself to the breaking point.

Look after your health. I was lucky not to have wreaked any lasting effects on my body during those months, but I felt very bad at the time. Eat substantial meals. Drink enouh water. Sleep enough, for God's sake. Be sure to go outside, also, and keep up with your friends and family; I was a bit of a recluse during this time and was bad about meeting up with people face to face instead of texting them.

Pushing yourself to work quickly to a degree that you're harming yourself will probably not produce a good product. Even if it does end up being good, is it really worth it?

Learn how your writing process works and get better at understanding your mental health needs, and when you need to take breaks. I cannot give you so much advice for this because it's something you need to figure out by yourself. I recommend journaling; also, seeing a therapist if you're able to.

Writing is supposed to be fun (and, if not fun, fulfill you in some other way.) It's your hobby. When your hobby starts taking away more joy than it's giving, it stops being a hobby. It becomes a chore.

Take routine breaks. This doesn't mean that you have to stop writing altogether during those times if you don't want to; it might mean switching up the project you're working on. I also recommend having another creative hobby (cooking, playing an instrument, drawing or painting, scrapbooking/collaging etc) to work on during your breaks.

i hope you're doing well today, everyone. remember that it's okay to go at your own pace.

[mc-critical]

1.06 / 2.09 (33)

[schattenmagier]

It made sense that Pinocchio wasn't bound to this covenant. Otherwise he would have gone berserk too. Probably. Lilli watched again, with crossed arms, as Venigni started to pace around. This gives her also time to eye the man up and down. And then she raises a brow. Puppets with emotions? Given that they are puppets, in the literal sense apparently, should they be able to feel emotions? And how can Pinocchio? He doesn't even have a heart... Like not a human one... Perhaps it is not a question she should dwell on. While he hadn't been very emotional when she was around the puppet boy, it was small things that showed he felt something like emotions... Even if it was simply just him rolling his eyes.

" Polite? ... Not sure if I would use that word to describe him... "

The woman mumbled, and rolled her eyes, before she continues.

" But i think I understand what you mean... He seems completely different from the puppets I have seen so far... "

But she also understands why the man would trust Pinocchio. And if she had to be honest, she does trust him a little as well. Because she too had been saved by the puppet. Surely, she wouldn't have stood a chance against all those frenzied puppets they had fought against. Her trust is probably still more limited than the one Venigni has in him though.

" Ah... It- It's fine. I see why you trust him. And yes he is... strange in some ways. But I think him not being human explains it. "

Besides, isn't she also awkward in many situations? Even though she is human?

" He did help me yes. And I... If I'm honest, I do trust him too... Even if it might be more limited than your trust in him. "

Lilli admits, and then lets out a sigh. Perhaps she should go and meet this 'Geppetto'. Maybe she can gain some more information, and... a way to get out of Krat. Even if it included her helping these people in some way.

" I... think I will leave you to... whatever you have been doing, Sir Venigni... And meet this Geppetto you have mentioned... "

He gives half a bow at her kind words. After all, he knew that not everyone - be they from outside or citizens of Krats - could understand his reasonings, so he appreciates the fact that she doesn't try to change his mind. Granted, it could be because she couldn't care less wether he lives or dies, but he'd much rather be optimistic and see the good in others. Being nice to eachother was the least anyone could do, in moments of crisis such as these.

As her focus returned to the puppet, his eyes instinctively once again wandered to his room, then back to her.

"Well, objectively speaking... he is different. Geppeto said he's not bound to the Cavenant, and that's what makes him unique" once again he paces around, back and forth, unable to stay still as he explains more tecnicalities "He said that, without being bound to its rules, Pinocchio can't fall for the frenzy... and, even more than other awakened puppets--" a beat "...that is, those who learned to, as far as I know, truly feel emotions... he has a free will. Granted, he does what he's asked most of the time, but I think it's more due to politeness than anything else."

The Angel knows that dealing with P when he doesn't want to do something, it shows. Other awakened puppets might voice their avversion to the requests given, but can't do much else but follow it; Geppetto's boy, on the other hand, pouts and sits down on a good day and starts doing little petty pranks and uses sarcasm on the worse ones. Who taught him to be that sassy is a mystery...!

"...but, honestly... I trust him because he saved my life, and my butler Pulcinella's as well."

His voice gets much softer, almost melancholic. How he regretted asking the butler-- his friend to deal with the furnace, how scared he was of losing him!

"If it wasn't for Pinocchio, neither of us would be here. So, of course I trust him to do the right thing."

A moment of silence. And then he laughs - a little forced, a little too loud.

"Ahh, but look at me! Getting overly emotional over nothing! I mean, I bet you saw it yourself, yes? He might be a little..." ...what's the right word, there "...forceful, sometimes? A little bit awkard? But he did help you too, no?"

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

What's your opinion on malewife/house husband Adrien posts? I asked this to another blog, and like I said to them, I find them a guilty pleasure: The concept is cute, but I know that would be the last thing Adrien would ever wanna be after all his dad put him through.

I don't think that it would be the last thing that Adrien would ever want. I actually think it suits his character in a lot of ways, you just have to handle the topic with care.

First let's talk about why it suits him.

Miraculous has totally failed to give Adrien any sort of career-based passion and - if we ignore the senti complication - I honestly love that for him! I want more characters with no major life ambitions to balance out the Marinettes of the world!

I think that society places way too much pressure and value on finding the perfect career that fulfills us in every way while also allowing us to put food on the table. Most people will never find that and that's okay. It doesn't mean that you've failed or that you're lesser. For most people, the goal is to find a career that pays the bills and that you enjoy enough that you don't hate doing it 40hrs/week. Along similar lines, for most people, your passion will be something that doesn't make money. It will be something like a hobby or spending time with those you love or analyzing badly written French TV shows.

This brings us back to Adrien.

Adrien seems to get a great deal of joy from being around his loved ones and making them happy, so I can absolutely picture him finding a lot of joy in running a home. This is extra true because Marinette is pretty clearly career driven and she's planning to go into a creative field, so she'll probably have a pretty crazy schedule and struggle to stay on top of it all. Having a loving husband to take things like cooking and cleaning off of her plate would be a blessing and a gift that she'd greatly appreciate, but that would feel unbalanced if Adrien was working, too. (Yes, they could hire staff, but that risks the secret identity thing, so I don't see them doing that.)

If they both have power careers, then they'd barely see each other and I hate that for them. I think that it would make Adrien incredibly sad and depressed. Plus, while Marinette thrives off of competition and staying busy, only needing occasional breaks before diving right back in, Adrien seems to hate busy schedules and heavy work loads.

Given all of that, I think that there's a lot to be said for Adrien stepping away from the working world. Especially since he's been in it for years and being a child celebrity is no joke! I think it would be nice for him to escape from strict schedules and expectations. Dinner fails? Order takeout!

While we're on the topic of food, I really like the idea of Adrien falling in love with cooking. Dude needs a creative outlet and that's honestly a great one (I hate it when people write characters as unable to figure out cooking like it's some cute quirk. While an initial struggle is believable, it's not a mystical art that takes years of practice. Between YouTube, the wider Internet, and maybe some classes if he wants to get fancy, I think that he'll be fine.) There's so much variety with what you can do in the kitchen and the end result gets to be shared and appreciated by those you love. It just seems like a perfect fit for him, but I would never make him a professional chef because the hours are insane and the pressure to be perfect is high. I only see him loving it as a hobby where he can go at his own pace, take days off, and make lazy meals when he's not feeling like being a show off.

The big concerns that come with making him a homemaker are a lack of financial independence and a lack of socialization. I don't see the first thing as an issue for Adrien since he comes from a wealthy family, so that one doesn't phase me.

The isolation could very easily be an issue, but it could just as easily be a problem if he started working, too. It's not as if a job is a sure way to have friends or even just consistent positive social interactions, which is another reason why I don't really see a need to give him a traditional job. You can get a vibrant social life in lots of other ways.

Here are the two big things that I keep in mind when writing an Adrien-as-a-homemaker or similar setup as it is where I tend to have Adrien land for all of the above reasons:

Adrien needs to be active in some organization or project. Volunteer work is a good fit as is being an active stay-at-home parent or some combination of the two. Voice acting is also on my radar, but my default is to have him act as the head of team miraculous' out-of-battle activities. Scheduling meet and greets. Going to see sick kids. Jetting around the world for humanitarian aid missions. Basically let Chat Noir be his "career" which gives him a lot of much needed flexibility for making his own schedule, especially if he's a stay-at-home parent to any eventual kids. I also like the poetic nature of Adrien finally being proud to be the face of a "brand" via his hero side while his civilian side becomes just some guy that people kind of remember from old ads.

Consider having a non-traditional living arrangement. I am a big fan of hero teams living together, so my default is to take the Agreste mansion and remodel it into a secret HQ for the team. Adrien and Marinette would have their own apartment/wing/whatever, but they'd still be surrounded by their found family on a near-daily basis, so that social isolation is the last thing on Adrien's mind. There's almost always someone to hang out with! You could also just have Alya and Nino or other friends live in the same apartment building so that they're over a lot/Adrien has a place to hang when Marinette is working late because you know that she'd do that.

Basically, Adrien's rich, so he doesn't need to make money and he doesn't seem to have any interest in a normal job, so I really like letting him having a unique life where he doesn't have a traditional job. He is a superhero, after all. Unique career paths are pretty par for the course. You just have to be careful to make sure that all of this feels like his fully informed and carefully considered choice and not like you forced it on him to make Marinette's life perfect (I only brought her up earlier because this is a story and it makes sense to design characters around each other). I usually do this by sending Adrien to therapy in his late teens or by giving him some other parth of self discovery.

Do note that all of the above is inspired by my read of Adrien which may be totally different from your read of him and that's fine! I just can't picture him as someone who thrives in a traditional career path based on knowing people who strike me as similar to him and from whom I draw my understanding of how to write that part of Adrien's character. I think that he'd be perfectly able to have a traditional career path, but I also think that he'd be pretty miserable for a lot of reasons.

I'll also note that I'm not sure what posts spawned this ask, so there may be elements of those that I'd have criticisms of. This post was about the general concept of Adrien being a homemaker. I tend to avoid the broader fandom for my own sanity and the use of the term "malewife" has me concerned that I'm implying support of something I wouldn't actually support because that's a new one for me and it sounds incredibly sexist.

I'm not a fan of implying that the default definition of "wife" is "submissive homemaker" so a man taking on a homemaking role is clearly submissive and acting like a woman does while his aggressive, domineering wife is acting like a man, which is the definition of this word that I'm finding online and yikes! Wife and husband are legal/social status in my book. They are not clearly defined jobs/roles/personality types, so I'm not a fan of using gendered terms to refer to stuff like this especially since I do actively try to use gender neutral words in my own writing whenever I can, though I'm certainly far from perfect on that front.

I also don't see homemaking as a submissive act. It certainly can be, but that's not how I picture Adrien at all! I picture him as relaxed and plesent, but 100% in charge of the home and all choices about how it's run. I also see him being in charge of their finances like homemakers often were in the "old days" since they were the ones in charge of things like scheduling cleaners, buying food, and other things that needed strong budgeting skills while the person who worked wasn't actually spending money or managing the home since they were at work. I like to think that Nathalie would prep Adrien to be a wealthy man and so he'd have strong skills in finance management.

[autumnrory]

i rmr when all the initial meta around endgame was coming out people were talking about steve being depressed and whatnot and it's like well yeah but he's BEEN depressed, like he woke up alone in this century and he kept going, now i can understand it being worse this time after finding a family and getting bucky back and losing them all except of course that's not why endgame steve was on about so like......the people writing meta were trying to connect these things that of course weren't really there on screen because that simply wasn't our steve

but i think it really could've been SO interesting to see this is the thing that finally makes steve stay down like he's lost so much and he just CAN'T keep fighting like i get some people think that's what they were going for but considering the ending......it's really not. and so i'm just thinking about a version after iw, maybe he gets some of the thor treatment except not turning his depression into a dumb fatphobic joke lol and maybe nat and others are trying to get through to him and it just doesn't work and then we get some flashbacks (which you could have done for all the original avengers actually which would be particularly important for bruce and nat and clint who did not have their own trilogies) including his mom telling him "you always stand up" and THAT being the thing to finally get him moving like it would've been such a perfect way to finally show sarah rogers some respect and ACTUALLY show steve really struggling instead of whatever they tried to do with him in that movie

[esbielle]

please forgive my most passionate disruptions, written by @pumpkinpaix and read by esbielle, is now finally complete! You can check the whole podfic now on ao3!

[arabela25]

are you going to make gifsets of each semifinal's entries? or have you already posted something similiar?

I'm planning on making a few gifsets/edits for the semi finals but I'll probably only post them near the contest date